Category Archives: Parks

One great thing about living in the Bay Area is all the outdoorsy stuff we have to do around here. The East Bay has a beautiful park system run by the East Bay Regional Park District. Check out their map of the 65 parks available to us in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

Eager to discover more of the area, I wanted to get a park pass to make it easier and cheaper to get into the parks. I ordered it last week (more on that in a bit), received it today and can’t wait to use it. I got the family pass which ran $95. Individual regular passes run $50.

But I have to warn you, they have 25 different types of memberships at different rates to choose from. 25! That’s not including the add-ons and permits.Their membership website and fee structure is the most complex thing that you’ll ever see. The first sentence of their membership page reads, “Becoming a Member has now become easier than ever!” *facepalm*. They really need to really simplify it down to a couple rates and one page like the National Park Service does. Oh, and a big red button on the home page that says “Buy a Park Pass Here!” would help. I only gripe because it took me over an hour to click through the site to figure out what I needed. I got lost quite a bit. Buying a pass shouldn’t be that hard.

That aside, I still highly recommend getting the pass if you plan on using the parks more than a few times. With great year-round weather and an abundance of parks and trails, there’s no excuse to stay indoors. The park system is awesome out here in the East Bay. I’m looking forward to using abusing my pass to explore and share what I discover out here in our wild back yard.

For more information on the park system and membership information, check out their websites: